Theater Review: 'An Unfinished Man' at the NoHo Arts Center

We have seen the tale of Alfonso before, both in real life and on the stage and screen. The rise and fall of a superstar is a theme that plays out before our eyes on an almost daily basis now. One moment Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan and Anthony Weiner are on top of the world, so high up the mountain we can hardly see them, the next they are lying at our feet, torn apart by the world -- and themselves.

, which made its world premiere at the NoHo Arts Center Friday and is playing for a limited engagement, explores not the reasons for this rise and fall, but what drives artists deep on the inside to want to take the ride. It also examines the difference between those who come to Hollywood to feast upon its artistic possibilities, the "endless canvass," and those no different from the ones who came here during the gold rush.

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What drives Alfonso (Will Bowers) is not fame or fortune, but the desire for artistic greatness and immortality. It's a desire he can't shake. The Man in the Hat (Elias Jimenes), dressed in a sleek, dark suit, hovers in the back of his unconscious, whispering in Alfonso's ear at his darkest hours. Every true artist has a Man in the Hat lurking in the corner, the play proposes, an almost external force compelling them to believe that "when you're going through hell ... keep going."

One of the first things which is obvious in the opening scene is that there will be laughs to come. The play was advertised in particular with a slick, serious preview video backed up by a gloomy piano track, and gave no hint of comedy. But before a word has been uttered by a live actor onstage, laughs emanate from the audience after listening to several of Alfonso's messages on his answering machine.

The stage is set quickly. His mother wants him to come home to Detroit, creditors are after him, his former fiance wants to know if she should give the ring back or "just give you some cash for it," and his manager wants him to consider a career in pornography.

One thing hard to accept throughout the play is that Alfonso has true star quality, as his manger, Derrick (Hurshel Williams), and the world, seem to believe at times. The play is full of many long monologues that contemplate Hollywood and the inner lives of artists, which makes it difficult for Bowers to ever get a hard rhythm. The play's best moments come in fast give-and-take arguments between Alfonso and Derrick and an unforgettable scene in the waiting room of an audition as Alfonso is befriended and accosted all at once by a crazed, manic actor (J. Eddie Martinez). Dustin Quick also makes a strong turn as Alfonso's girlfriend, Tiffany, who is hardened by Hollywood and unimpressed with his success.

But often when the play picks up steam and laughs, such as when Alfonso and his manger try to decide on a possible porn name by using the old "street you grew up on and first pet" trick, it slows down for monologues which aren't funny and also aren't trying to be. Bowers is left essentially as the straight man onstage, surrounded by outgoing eccentrics, and it's hard to see him as one with superstar quality. It's a bit like watching Entourage and having to accept Adrian Grenier as Leonardo DiCaprio. It's in fact Martinez who shines through with magnetic force for one brilliant scene, and when he leaves in a rush we can't help but hope that he comes back.

It's hard to imagine the play ever being well received outside Hollywood in a place like Detroit, where Alfonso is from, especially when the folks there are constantly referred to as "the masses" who love Sarah Palin and think "pro wrestling is real." The people in the play seem unaware of the possibility that Midwestern "normal" people can have dreams and full, artistic lives as well. The only art worth creating, and the only place to create it, is in the shadow of the Hollywood sign. Anything outside of it is death or a compromise.

By the end of the play we are starting to believe the writer and director, Myron Ward, believes it as well, and it's not until we meet Alfonso's mother (Efe), one of the Midwestern "masses," that everyone on stage and in the audience is set straight with a fiery tongue lashing.

Given that the play is showing in NoHo, An Unfinished Man certainly has the feel of one preaching to the choir, or, in fact, preaching to other preachers. It's a Hollywood actor contemplating the life of a Hollywood actor to a Hollywood audience. But there was probably a lot about Alfonso's struggle that those in the audience Friday night could relate to, and some of the most meaningful sermons I have ever heard came when I was sitting in the choir box.

An Unfinished Man

Friday and Saturdays @ 8 p.m., June 17-25

11136 Magnolia Blvd. 

(818) 508-7101